Debian Trusted Organizations (TO) are organizations that hold and manage assets on behalf of the Debian project. The list of TOs is maintained by the Debian Project Leader (following Debian Constitution 5.1.11 and 9).

In order to be accepted as a TO, an organization should provide some features, and satisfy some criteria. The list below should not be understood as required features, but rather as a set of desirable features. A prospective TO is expected to describe how it compares to this set of desirable features.

A number of organizations have satisfied the criteria and have been approved as TOs.

1. The organization should share Debian's general visions

The organization's bylaws, activities and political stance should not conflict with the Debian Social Contract.

2. The organization should remain loyal to Debian

The organization should be considered fully trustworthy, or provide guarantees that Debian's assets will be managed according to the Debian Project's decisions.

Some examples of possible implementations:

The organization has a long history of successfully holding a similar role for other Free Software projects

The organization is managed by highly respected members of the Free Software community

The organization has a leadership structure that ensures a minimum number and/or a majority of Debian developers

The organization has decision-making processes that explicitely delegate decisions on Debian assets to the Debian Project Leader

3. The organization should provide accountability on assets held in trust

Some examples of possible implementations:

The organization provides, on a regular and frequent basis (e.g. quarterly), detailed reports of assets tranfers and balance sheets, in a machine-parsable format.

The organization provides access to Debian's accounts live data, in a machine-parsable format.

4. The organization should be reliable, sustainable, and reactive

Some examples of possible implementations:

The organization is managed by a large group of active Debian Developers

The organization's managers have been involved in Debian or other Free Software projects for a long time, and have a high reputation of being reliable.

The organization has several people sharing the role of treasurer in order to react quickly to requests in all circumstances

5. The organization should provide a reasonable financial framework

For example, it is desirable that:

Donations and sponsorship are tax-deductible for the donor

Donations, sponsorship, income from sales and transfers from other TOs are not subject to income tax

There are no major restrictions on what kind of expenses can be made, either due to the organization's bylaws or to the legal framework of the organization

There are no major restrictions on how the organization could transfer assets to another TO

Some properties are often mutually exclusive (e.g.; tax-deductible for the donor and no major restrictions). This is fine -- the goal here is to understand beforehand what will be possible for a specific TO.

6. Additional opportunities

Some organizations might offer additional services to their affiliated organizations, such as legal counsel.

Some organizations have might plans that result in possible income for Debian, such are giving to Debian some of the result of the sale of merchandising.